During KB’s performance at SoCal Harvest this weekend, he spoke about how the church can help push toward racial reconciliation by not ignoring the problem.
KB said two things need to happen in order for the church to become the leader in ushering in meaningful change.
“One is confession. There is no repentance without confession. I think there needs to be a particular emphasis on the reality that the Church is as segregated as it has always been,” he said. “If we’re honest and will weep over the statistics, the events [happening in society] are largely monolithic in terms of ethnicity, and the same things apply to the Church.”
The rapper continued, and stated that, “This is not what God wanted,” referring to “all-white church” and “all-white industry or all-white festival.”
“If we can arrive to that and say that this is an issue, because it is an issue to God, Heaven is not going to be a place that has a north and south side,” the 28-year-old said. “It is our responsibility to do whatever it takes to reflect the Kingdom of God on Earth. So let’s go after it, and when that happens, we’ll see some things change.”
The emcee doesn’t think the church does this with any maliciousness or hatred, but rather, it is more of a “blind spot.”
“What typically happens is that when you press on blind spots is that you find that in a lot of ways we liked the blind spot. It was good that you didn’t have to deal with that which you didn’t see,” he explained. “But like driving on the road, you can’t ignore a blind spot if there’s a car there. And there is a car there.”
KB is hopeful that everything is moving in the right direction and praised some of the growth and conversation that has been happening between the body of believers. He also knows that hip-hop can prove to be a tool for change, just as other media can be used to create a narrative.
“So, as people’s hearts are broken over the issues of humanity that God is absolutely involved in and cares about, they can’t help but use that medium to express that which will be a solvent or a balm or a peace to the hurting people around us. I think every artist deep down wants their music, even if their the most ratchet, profane dude you can imagine, deep down he wants people to hear his music and feel better about themselves and the world. And artists like myself take that seriously,” KB shared.
Watch KB at the festival below: